TexMessage: Nation’s capital prepares to honor Martin Luther King Jr.

Good morning, TexMessagers. The public gets first look at Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on National Mall — and so do you.

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TEXclusive

Thousands of tourists, government workers on lunch break and veterans of the civil rights era flocked to the newly-opened Martin Luther King Jr., memorial on the National Mall on Monday to take in the towering 28 foot, 6 inch granite likeness of the slain civil rights leader.

Granite statue of Martin Luther King Jr. opens on National Mall

The public’s first peek came days before President Obama, members of Congress and icons of the nation’s civil rights era are scheduled to dedicate the $120 million memorial on a four-acre site near the Potomac River.

King’s statue stands alone between the Thomas Jefferson Memorial on the Tidal Basin and the Abraham Lincoln Memorial where King delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech 48 years ago on Sunday — the day of the dedication. (Text and video of King’s address).

Houston lawyer Harry E. Johnson Sr. oversaw the memorial project as head of the foundation that raised the money needed to commission and build the memorial and obtain the site.

King’s statue emerges from a stone inscribed “out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” The likeness is located midway along a 450-foot granite wall inscribed with 14 quotations from King’s writings, speeches and sermons.

“We don’t build memorials to men, we build them to the ideals they have,” Johnson told the Houston Chronicle.

King was assassinated ion 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 39. He had received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his life-long work on behalf of civil rights – the youngest recipient of the honor to that point.

The memorial has provoked controversy at various points since the project was conceived in 1984 and the site approved in 1999. The sculpture is the work of master Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin — a source of criticism from some who favored having an African-American prepare the statue. The stone was carved in China and transported to Washington, D.C.

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Texas Tips

Every morning, we offer Texas news you may not have heard and insights from the Washington bureau staff.

★ QUICKEST DRAW IN 2012. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, known for sharp political instincts, out drew his GOP rivals for the presidency on Monday with the quickest reaction to Libyan rebels reaching the brink of victory in Tripoli. The crumbling of Gadhafi’s regime “is cause for cautious celebration,” Perry said. “The lasting impact of events in Libya will depend on ensuring rebel factions form a unified, civil government that guarantees personal freedoms, and builds a new relationship with the West.”

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was next to comment, saying he hoped “that Libya will now move toward a representative form of government that supports freedom, human rights, and the rule of law.”

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman came in third, saying he was “hopeful — as the whole world should be — that his defeat is a step toward openness, democracy and human rights for a people who greatly deserve it.”

★ A NEW LEASE ON LIFE. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, is welcoming a decision not to close the North Forest Independent School District because of students’ performance on standardized tests. The veteran lawmaker said a decision by Robert Scott, commissioner of the Texas Education Agency, would give the district time to try to improve students’ academic skills.

“We all know we have work to do in North Forest,” said Jackson Lee. “We now can show what the children of North Forest can do.”

★ BLACKBERRIES REPLACE HOUSE PAGES. Four Texas Democrats have joined 25 House colleagues urging House leaders to reverse a cost-cutting decision to abolish the $5 million-a-year House Page Program – a venerable service on Capitol Hill that has provided lawmakers a cadre of young, eager messengers for generations.

“The role of pages may have changed and will continue to change in the future, but this is not a sufficient reason to end their historical presence in our halls,” the lawmakers wrote House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Nancy Pelosi, D-California. “Rather, we should find new ways to use their skills.”

The two House leaders announced their decision in early August, saying the “prohibitive cost of the program and advances in technology have rendered most page-provided services no longer essential to the smooth functioning of the House”

Reader Comment of the Day

In response to Texas on the Potomac’s posting of National Lampoon suggestions for Perry slogans, Nawwal commented: “Now if Palin will just announce, this will be the most entertaining political campaign in history. Futile, a waste of a great deal of money, but entertaining. On second thought, the campaign fund spending will be a tremendous economic stimulus. Paid for by the wealthy and the lunatics – perfect!”

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Texas Watch

TxPotomac lets you know what stories to look out for today — and later this week.

★ 7:00 pm, former Utah GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman attends fundraiser for presidential campaign at at the City Club of Buckhead, Atlanta, Georgia.

On Deck: This Week and Beyond

★ Wednesday, Aug. 24. The House Oversight, Investigations and Management Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, will hold a field hearing titled “Preventing an Economic Shock Wave: Securing the Port of Houston From a Terrorist Attack.” It is scheduled for 10 a.m. CDT on the fourth floor of the Port of Houston Authority, 111 East Loop North.